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Reviving Canadian history/heroes

Posted by Scott Tribe on September 23, 2011, at 7:20 am |

There was a nice editorial in the Star yesterday talking about how one of Canada’s war heroes from World War I, Lt-Colonel William Barker, is finally getting some modest recognition to his feats (a gravestone with a plane propeller etched in it) after years of neglect and forgetfulness. I’ll admit I’d never heard of Colonel Barker either until recently, and I’m one that takes a keen interest in Canadian history as well as obviously political science. This to me seems only a modest first step for reviving Colonel Barker in the collective Canadian conscience. It would be nice perhaps to do something more – how about re-telling his story to Canadians when they’re all watching on Remembrance Day, for starters?

Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government are apparently keen to revive old historical ties and remind Canadians of our historical links to Britain – hence the revival of the “Royal” moniker for the Air Force and Navy. I think a much better agenda would be to properly honour our old war heroes like Colonel Barker, and make a collective effort to educate Canadians about them. That would be a worthy effort of this government’s time, for as the Star says:

Barker is not our only neglected military hero. More than 90 Canadians have won the Victoria Cross, starting with Alexander Dunn at the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. Yet few Canadians can recall any except perhaps Bishop. That’s deplorable. When we forget our heroes, we forget our bravest and our best.

If Harper wants Canadians to remember their history, how about starting with our heroes at home?